Horticultural Educator

Inspire a Love of Nature in Young Children

Do you have a passion for gardening and sustainability, along with a genuine love of working with children?

We are looking for an enthusiastic and experienced Horticultural Educator to join our Niño Early Learning Adventures centre in Ivanhoe for 3 days per week. This is a unique opportunity to combine your horticultural knowledge with hands-on learning experiences, helping children aged 2–6 years discover the joy of growing food, caring for plants, and connecting with nature.

Working alongside our educators, you will facilitate engaging gardening experiences, care for our vegetable gardens, and support children’s learning through play-based experiences that fosters curiosity, confidence, and environmental responsibility.

About the Role

As our Horticultural Educator, you will play an important role in creating engaging outdoor learning experiences while maintaining our gardens and edible growing spaces.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Planning, planting and maintaining our vegetable gardens, herb gardens and outdoor learning spaces.
• Facilitating hands-on learning experiences that introduce children to growing fruit and vegetables, seasonal planting, composting and sustainability.
• Creating fun, hands-on gardening experiences for children aged 2–6 years.
• Working alongside our Early Childhood Educators to support the integration of gardening experiences into the learning program in line with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF).
• Caring for plants, soil health, irrigation and seasonal garden maintenance.
• Encouraging children's curiosity, independence and appreciation of the natural environment.
• Maintaining gardening tools and ensuring safe work practices are followed.

About You

We're looking for someone who is passionate about both horticulture and inspiring the next generation.

You will have:

• Experience in horticulture, landscaping, market gardening or nursery operations.
• Certificate III in Horticulture or equivalent experience (desirable).
• Knowledge of seasonal planting, edible gardens and sustainable gardening practices.
• Experience engaging with children through schools or community education programs (highly regarded).
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• A warm, engaging and patient approach with young children.
• The ability to work independently while collaborating with our education team.
• A current Working with Children Check (or willingness to obtain).
• Current First Aid, CPR, Asthma and Anaphylaxis qualifications (or willingness to obtain).

Why Join Us?

At Niño ELA, we believe children develop a lifelong connection to nature through meaningful, hands-on experiences. Our gardens are more than just growing spaces—they are outdoor classrooms where children learn about sustainability, healthy eating, science, responsibility and caring for the environment.

We offer:

• Part-time position – 3 days per week
• A supportive and welcoming team environment.
• The opportunity to design and grow our edible gardens.
• A rewarding role making a genuine impact on children's learning and wellbeing.
• Ongoing professional development and support.
• The chance to combine your love of horticulture with inspiring children's learning in a truly unique role.

If you're passionate about plants, sustainability and inspiring young children to learn through nature, we'd love to hear from you.

We welcome and encourage applications from First Nations people and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace.

Niño Early Learning Adventures is committed to being a child safe environment and has a zero tolerance to child abuse. We have a duty of care to prevent child abuse and identify risks early, including reducing and removing these risks.

You must have the right to live and work in Australia to apply for this job.

Apply now and help us grow confident, capable and environmentally conscious little learners.